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Iodine intake and prevention of thyroid disorders: surveillance is needed

Peter Laurberg and Susanne B Nøhr
Med J Aust 2002; 176 (7): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2002.tb04424.x
Published online: 1 April 2002

The widespread application of public iodine supplementation programs, which cover about 3–4 billion people worldwide,1,2 is a response to the paucity of iodine in the natural diet in many regions of the world and the severe public health consequences of iodine deficiency.3


  • Aalborg Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.


Correspondence: laurberg@aas.nja.dk

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  • 2. International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) homepage: www.people.virginia.edu/~jtd/iccidd/ (accessed March 2002).
  • 3. Hetzel BS, Dunn JT. The iodine deficiency disorders: their nature and prevention. Ann Rev Nutr 1989; 9: 21-38.
  • 4. Laurberg P, Pedersen IB, Knudsen N, et al. Environmental iodine intake affects the type of nonmalignant thyroid disease. Thyroid 2001; 11: 457-469.
  • 5. Phillips DIW. Iodine, milk, and the elimination of endemic goitre in Britain: the story of an accidental public health triumph. J Epidemiol Commun Health 1997; 51: 391-393.
  • 6. London WT, Vought RL, Brown FA. Bread — a dietary source of large quantities of iodine. N Engl J Med 1965; 273: 381.
  • 7. Li M, Ma G, Guttikonda K, et al. Re-emergence of iodine deficiency in Australia. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 2001; 10: 200-203.
  • 8. McElduff A, McElduff P, Gunton JE, et al. Neonatal thyroid-stimulating hormone concentrations in northern Sydney: further indications of mild iodine deficiency? Med J Aust 2001; 176: 317-320. <eMJA full text>
  • 9. Laurberg P, Nøhr SB, Pedersen KM, et al. Thyroid disorders in mild iodine deficiency. Thyroid 2000; 10: 951-963.
  • 10. Delange F. Disorders induced by iodine deficiency. Thyroid 1994; 4: 107-128.
  • 11. Nøhr SB, Laurberg P. Opposite variations in maternal and neonatal thyroid function induced by iodine supplementation during pregnancy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2000; 85: 623-627.
  • 12. Morreale de Escobar G, Obregon MJ, Escobar del Rey F. Is neuropsychological development related to maternal hypothyroidism or to maternal hypo-thyroxinemia? J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2000; 85: 3975-3987.
  • 13. Nøhr SB, Jørgensen A, Pedersen KM, Laurberg P. Postpartum thyroid dysfunction in pregnant thyroid peroxidase antibody-positive women living in an area with mild to moderate iodine deficiency: is iodine supplementation safe? J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2000; 85: 3191-3198.
  • 14. Boyages SC, Halpern JP. Endemic cretinism: toward a unifying hypothesis. Thyroid 1993; 3: 59-69.

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